Rev. John Drummond Chamblin, 81

SEAFORD - Rev. John Drummond Chamblin, of Seaford, died peacefully at his home surrounded by his family on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008. He was 81. Father Chamblin was born April 15, 1927, in Herndon, Va., to Ralph VanSickler Chamblin and Virginia Melson Chamblin. He was a veteran of World War II and Korea. A 1961 graduate of the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Kentucky, he was ordained Deacon at St Paul's Church Norfolk, Va., (1961) and Priest in February 1962 by Bishop William A. Brown at Trinity Church in Portsmouth, Va. In the Diocese of Southern Virginia he served Trinity Church, Portsmouth as Deacon, Church of the Good Shepherd, Norfolk as Assistant Rector and St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, Portsmouth as its second Rector. In 1972 he began his ministry in the Diocese of Washington where he served as Rector of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, Silver Spring, Md., until he retired 1990. He was a Continuing Education Fellow at the Virginia Theological Seminary, Secretary of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Washington, and Chair of the Commission on Ministry under Bishop John T. Walker. Upon his retirement, he formed the winter congregation of St Simons-by-the-Sea at Sandbridge Beach, Va., where he served as Vicar until 1994. In recent years, he served as midweek celebrant at St Phillip's, Laurel. In addition to his wife of 57 years, Anne Bivins Chamblin, formerly of Newport News, Va., he is survived by their children, Virginia Chamblin Grochowski and husband John of Rocky Mount, N.C., John Drummond Chamblin Jr. and wife Marcia of Manassas, Va., Rev. Anne S.C. Byrne and husband William of Oakland, Md., and Randolph Melson Chamblin and wife Erika of Sterling, Va.; six grandchildren; his brother, Ralph VanSickler Chamblin of Albuquerque, N.M.; and his sister, Ann Chamblin Izlar of Durham, N.C. A memorial service will be 2 p.m. Wednesday in St Mary's Church, 2 N. William St., Bridgeville. Expressions of care may be sent to Episcopal Relief & Development, P.O. Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058; St. Mary's Church, P.O. Box 21, Bridgeville, DE 19973; or Delaware Hospice, 100 Patriots Way, Milford, DE 19963. Arrangements by Melson Funeral Services of Frankford.